I’ve always wondered why keep the Old Testament in at all then? I mean if the New Testament over-rides it, it seems kind of pointless to have it there.

It doesn’t override the OT, it supplements it with new information.  Basically it’s ‘This is how things were, and this is how they are now that Jesus has taught us anew’.  Or possibly now that our new God has ousted the OT God in his dominance of human affairs, but sadly that sect is no longer with us. 

I still feel it should have been included, though they may be too cowardly for that argument.  Also missing is Moa’s Little Red Book Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong.

MadCarlotta - 19 May 2008 05:21 AM

I’ve always wondered why keep the Old Testament in at all then? I mean if the New Testament over-rides it, it seems kind of pointless to have it there.

Because the beginning part has a lot of goof things in it, too.  Not to mention a lot of historical stuff.  And why tear it asunder? 

Anywho…I haven’t heard of a few of those books on the list except by reputation…but the explanations they gave for WHY they were on the list seemed pretty good.

Renquist - 19 May 2008 04:44 AM

Does that bit happen in the New Testament? No, it doesn’t.

If there’s a conflict between the two, the New Testament overrides everything in the Old Testament. Your argument falls kind of flat when you pick bits from the part of the book that is negated by the “Let he who is without sin” stuff of the second half. If the Bible didn’t have the New Testament in it, it wouldn’t be too nice a book. But it does and all it goes on about is being a good person.

Anyone picking stuff out the Old Testament isn’t taking the overall message away from the book.

What about the things that aren’t in conflict between the Old and New Testaments?

Also, if much of what it says doesn’t count, why is the Old Testatment still considered part of the Bible?  When judging whether “the Bible” tells people to do good things, why should we ignore well over half of it?

Also, there is also this inconvenient New Testament passage:

Matthew 5:17-19
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.“

And then there’s the cruelty and violence in the New Testament.

*rolls up a newspaper and smacks people randomly and with great force until the religious discussion stops*

Yeah, there are plenty of other threads for a religious argument.  Let’s stick closer to the topic, please. 

I think Machiavelli gets a bit of a worse image than he really deserves sometimes.  Oh well, that’s life.

I dont know why the prince is there though..But that book that killed 50 000 babies deserves it.